Cuteness

I just read an article by Angela Watson about the "culture of cute."  I have to say that the content is something I've thought of, but not articulated.  Cute is not necessary to instruction...or is it?  It really depends on a teacher's personality and what they need in order to function well.  Is there a problem with those of us who focus on "cute stuff" and the the look and organization of our classrooms?  Evidently so!  Some people think (comments in her post) that those who love to decorate and organize their classrooms couldn't possibly focus enough on instruction.  Ok, well maybe I"m being a little negative.  The author didn't really take a side; she just posed the question with points on both sides.  Of course there are some people who don't enjoy all of the stuff on Pinterest and see it as frivolous and even as added pressure to have the classroom look a certain way.  Some schools put that pressure on their staff.  I would hate that.  I contend that those of us who love all of the cute stuff love it because it makes us happy to work in a decorated classroom.  We do it for the kids and we like it for ourselves!  In no way does the decorating of my classroom interfere with my level of instruction.  I make most of my organizational decisions in the summer.  Included in that time is planning new centers/activities and shopping for things I don't have time to look for during the school year.  Decorative inspiration happens in the summer for me.  During the school year, I'm focused on instruction and the kids I'm trying to help.  I am honing in on their individual needs and searching for the perfect lessons for them.  I don't know them yet in the summer!  That's is when I feel free to have fun getting ready for the year.  And I DO have fun with it!  Wow, it almost sounds like I'm making excuses for enjoying cute stuff and decorating my room.  I guess my point is that everyone should do what makes them happy in their own space. If simple is what you love, then "yea!"  If decorating is your thing, then no one should question your teaching ability based on that!  Pinterest on...decorate your hearts out all of you AWESOME teachers!!

Cute/Organized...what could be wrong with that?!

I can find what I need...the kids can find what they need...it looks nice...I'm happy. 

Pinterest and Organization

As my Pinterest boards grew and grew over the past year, I had to do some remodeling!  I had all of my school stuff under three boards,  math, LA, and Organization.  It was just all mish-mashed together.  Sometimes the picture didn't tell what the "thing" actually was, and I'd have to click and look at it to remember.  That just wasn't cutting it.

It was getting so crowded, hundreds and hundreds of pins.  I've never noticed if Pinterest has a limit for pins on a board.  I must've been getting close, it was crazy.  It also bothered me that when I would look at one of my school boards, I would see stuff I wish I had remembered much sooner.  So I did some moving around.  I made a board for almost every objective in both LA and math.  It really broke it down into easy to find pieces!  If I want some activities on inferences or money, I just go to my inference or money boards, and there are specific activities for them!  It took FOREVER to move everything around.  It also makes it harder for people who want to follow my LA or math boards, because now there are about fourteen of them, but I had to be able to use them!  Another thing I do (which may or may not be a good thing for my computer) is pin something and go ahead and download it to my desktop and put it in the right folder.  Since I use a Mac, desktop folder storage is very acceptable.  I have one folder on my desktop for all of my documents. In that folder, I have the same titles as I do on my Pinterest boards. When I save a document, it is not only on my Pinterest board, it is also in the desktop folder with the same title.  Now my activities are basically stored in two places (again my obsession with backing things up) and I can find it very quickly.  I definitely forget what I've pinned, so having it in two places helps me quite a bit.  I have to say, Pinterest has made me not buy magazines for some reason.  To me, it's like looking at a new magazine every day with no ads! I look at the pictures and if I'm interested, I read on. I absolutely love it and it has changed the way I do some things.  How about you? 

Summer is here!

I am so excited to start this new blog (June 2013).  I love teaching...been lovin' it for 23 years, ten of them in third grade.  A retired 3rd grade teacher once told me that to her, "third grade is the 'country club' of elementary.' "  I laughed, and then I thought about what she meant.  It's really a great place to be.  Third graders are still so sweet and little, but they can do so much.  It's like the perfect age.  (I love all the other grade levels I've taught, but I hope to stay in third grade as long as I possibly can!)

 I love to learn new tricks. (sounds like a bio for an SPCA adoption!?)  I spend my summer doing